Mayo Clinic News Network Feature: SAVING LIVES WITH GUS

April 11, 2013

Mayo Clinic is launching a new video series, Saving Lives With Gus, which is designed to educate, entertain and deliver life-saving tips with high-tech mannequins. The series will be made available to media outlets as well as the public through social media channels.

David Farley, M.D., who oversees training at the Multidisciplinary Simulation Center in Minnesota, was touched a few years ago by the tragic story of a high school athlete who died after making the winning shot in a basketball game. It was determined later that he suffered from underlying cardiomyopathy. An Automated External Defibrillator, AED, was used to save the boy’s life but there were reports that the batteries may have been dead. Dr. Farley credits his three teenagers for showing him the educational power of social media. "Through them, I saw an opportunity to reach a new generation and deliver a succinct health care message to thousands of people through platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter."